THANK YOU GUYS FOR BEING SO PATIENT AFTER MY CRASH! I'M SORRY FOR THE DELAY AND I MADE AN EXTRA LONG CHAPTER JUST FOR YOU TO MAKE UP FOR IT! I love you all and thank you for continuing to return because you guys are literally the best group of reviewers I could have ever hoped for and I love all of our unsung readers from around the world! Thanks so much!
THIS CHAPTER HAS NOT BEEN BETAED. SPELLING MISTAKES AND SLIGHT REDUNDANCY MAY BE PRESENT. I SIMPLY DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO SUBMIT THIS TO MY READER! Thank you!
Chapter rated M for graphic depictions of blood/violence, graphic depictions of medical procedures, mention of past sexual trauma, obvious allusions to depression/PTSD, brief heavy language, perilous themes, suggestive themes, and general adult content.
SEVEN MONTHS IN THE RECENT PAST; A MOON OFF OF MOO-PING 10
Red scrunched up his face and coughed, sticking out his tongue to the horrible excuse for a cocktail their waiter had brought by, instead turning back and snatching a shot of burning vodka from Tak's hand before she could pound it back. Skoodge had gone over to mosey his way into a conversation with two stout Vortian women, lighting up with a beam when they giggled and offered him a seat at their table while Zim stayed behind with the ship in favor of working on his own projects and keeping out of the strobing lights of the club they tended to frequent. The red-light district of Moo-Ping 10, huh? Gross. This whole place reeked of sticky sweat, rank shame, and candy-coated drugs, a dastardly mix that was always invasive against Red's antennae, forcing him to drown it out with the presence of alcohol and Tak's perfume. It was easy to talk here, easy to blend and not be spotted by the authorities they were all paranoid were looking for them through the streets or prowling around shaded corners to spook them out of their skin when they left to unlock the ship. Here there was the boom of strange Vortian music, the lull of exotic dancers setting men and women alike into mouthwatering trances, and enough laughing to pacify even the hardest of souls into good natured hilarity, prime real estate to discuss the horrid mission weighing heavily upon the collective thoughts of Lavender Fire; infiltrate Del's cabinet and hunt for information regarding the five thousand missing Irkens pilfered like cattle from their home planet.
Red scanned the crowds once more and swallowed down the final gulp of Tak's drink before slamming his now empty glass down on the table and feeling it take effect, giving him the much needed boost of false courage he desired to slide his transmission screen up onto the crumb covered table. He hastily unlocked it, scrolling across the blinding screen and squinting at the even more bellicose wafting of powerful, multicolored lights bouncing against his retinas in time with the music before he was able to finally locate what he had been searching for. Tak blinked and scooted closer, shielding her face and giving a quick once over of the crowd before taking a deep breath and whispering something Red almost didn't catch under the raunchy foreign lyrics deafening them all.
"Is that him? You're sure Del decided to grab another one after you left?" She muttered, taking the device in her claws and running her scrupulous gaze over the intensely white smile beaming back at her from the image her partner had managed to steal. "He looks so young and innocent. I doubt this is the one that everyone has their sights set on."
"No, no, this is him." Red grumbled back, snatching his transmitter once more and swiping a claw over the bone structure and amethyst eyes of the stranger glaring back with enough gumption to destroy an entire army. "This was all I could find in his old Elite file, and I'm positive that idiot Del had the rest destroyed. No blood records, no name, nothing. He's a ghost for all anyone else cares." He sighed and locked the screen with a groan, running a palm over his antennae and snapping for a passing waitress to shimmy over. "We need to get in and grab him before Del is able to go through with the treaty. If he and Ipi make this bizarre pact and he's sold off, something really bad is gonna happen."
The waitress smiled warmly and reached out with a scanner as Red met her with his points card, letting her siphon away his hard stolen cash in favor of another round of whiskey when Tak leaned back and pursed her lips in thought. "You always say that, but I don't get what you mean by 'bad.' I need a level to go off of."
Red shrugged and popped the top of the bottle set genially before him, filling his own flask from his pocket first before taking a tiny sip from the glass rim. "What's not to get, Tak? Whatever is happening out there, whatever Ipi is planning, it's going to be cataclysmic. I heard whisperings when I was set to marry Sen about…hm…" He thought long and hard for a few moments, collecting his racing thoughts to the best of his ability. "I don't really get it either, now that I think about it. They were saying something about my purity being off because I was from a Smeetery with bottom of the barrel DNA, which is actually pretty offensive I guess, but that's besides the point. They want someone pure and untouched by anyone else, and he's it. I don't know why, I don't know for what, but they want to suck him dry and use him to overtake something."
"Is he some kind of weapon, you think?" Tak suggested, leaning forward in the vinyl booth and resting a hand upon her lover's only to frown when he pulled back. She decided to ignore his cold callousness, telling herself that she was more than used to his change in demeanor over the past few months and opting to probe further into the inner workings of his strategic mind. "We know he was in the Elite and that he was a marksman, so maybe they want his skillset as a high performing agent. They could be taking his blood to grow better, stronger smeets somewhere to prepare for war."
Red chuckled with a snort, shaking his head in amusement at his girlfriend's overly serious expression to the odd, but quite imaginative, speculations pouring from her psyche. "Super soldiers? That's crazy!" He returned to the transmitter once more, showing off the peaceably innocent photo and jabbing a finger at the acutely lopsided antennae of their target. "He looks like a total clutz if anything, and I doubt this guy was anything more than a cadet in the first place judging by his age and the color of his uniform. I haven't played General for this long to go rescue an idiot, though, so there has to be something else going on in his head that they're seriously after. Why else would they want to crack him like an egg?"
Tak shrugged, resting her sharp elbows up on the corner of the table and waving when Skoodge glanced over for a bit of reassurance in his now deepening debate over Vortian politics with his new lady friends. "Please don't say it like that. You make it sound so gruesome and wrong, like he's nothing more than an experiment for them to play with." She shot Red a glare when he went to defend his asinine position, effectively drowning him out with her continued reasoning. "We know he's special, and we know he's being hidden away on the Massive for safe keeping so he can be transferred to Sen for marriage. They're so concerned about her staying in the limelight, so of course they would need someone handsome and young to take Del's place when he decides to step down and relinquish his position as Tallest, and he definitely fits the profile."
"Yeah, but why, Tak? We're not getting anywhere!"
"Love, I think you're overthinking this whole thing and-"
"I'm not overthinking! You always go there and I always tell you the same damn thing! I'm not paranoid, I'm not delusional, and I'm not only out for myself so get it all out of your head!"
Tak sat stagnant for a few seconds longer, toying with the hem of her deep violet, aline dress before forcing herself up to a rickety stand to silently make her way over to the bar. Red stayed behind, slumping back hard and groaning in mounting frustration when his girlfriend glanced back and promptly flipped him off over her shoulder. He continuously told himself not to worry about her but to focus on the sanctity of their mission and undermine whatever Del and Ipi had in store for their collective worlds, and they needed to steal the tall mystery man everyone was buzzing about in the immediate shadows and wanting to sink their claws into like soft, delicious candy. As much as he hated to admit, Tak was probably right about him. The guy was probably chosen at random in accordance to Sen's own personal preferences and just happened to fit her very long, excruciatingly extensive, bill, landing him the unfortunate job of a lifetime followed by a dash of unwanted servitude. Red scrolled back through what little Zim had been able to hack for them, grateful that his tiny, chaotic teammate was able to produce much needed results so dammingly fast under their antennae, squinting down at the screen and noticing something he had grazed over a few times but didn't think of as necessarily significant.
The mystery prisoner was hatched in the Veloria Smeetery.
Red felt taken aback, swallowing down another thick gulp of amber whiskey and swiftly fighting off the advances of a stout Vortian in a deep navy romper asking him to come dance, instead rereading the odd morsel of fact and rolling the word around in his mouth under the sweltering cascade of electronic sound. Veloria, huh? That was the Irken capital city, the most affluent and prestigious city on the surface and known for the purest, finest DNA strain in the whole of Irken kind. Anyone lucky enough to be cloned from the DNA of the original Tallest was destined for greatness and looked upon as an utter rarity and, to Red's flimsy knowledge, no one with violet eyes had ever been born to the Smeetery in the past several hundred cycles, if ever. The mystery man was one-hundred percent pure Irken greatness wrapped up in ethereally soft skin, wide curious eyes, and an IQ that would undoubtedly slander any officer who dared oppose him academically, carrying the very same blood of the first Tallest that had brought Irk out of the dark ages and into the light. Essentially, he was rarer than gold. He was more highly sought after than natural resources, more coveted than sugar, and more desired by Callnowia than any other unfortunate, razed soul drifting without a care on the winds of change creeping in to fend them all off like rats.
Red finally understood, nodding a bit to himself and slipping the petite device back into the shallow pocket of his thick suit jacket, staring unseeingly into the jumping writhe of the throng bouncing to the music around them. Why did Del need him? Why did Ipi need him? So what, he was pure? Was Tak's fantasy right; were they breeding a new race of super soldiers and ruining the chances of Irken greatness across the cosmos once and for all?
Who was this….Purple?
THE PRESENT; IPI'S MANSION; CALLNOWIA
"Fascinating. You dare pluck your IV free and spill your precious blood without permission? What a pity that you never understood how important you were to our cause, but I guess you're not anymore so what does it matter?" Ipi waved a disinterested hand when Red slipped free from the chilly operating table and glanced over in a frenzy, relieved that Purple's guard had plucked his hand away to allow him a horrified gasp for air. "I've given you more than enough chances to aid in my mission, my dear, but you always seem to have your own in mind. Did you really think you could ever become Tallest of your own planet?"
Purple coughed thickly and writhed under the dominating hold smothering him against his will, the stench of leather and sweat invading his senses and mixing in with the metallic twinge of blood leaking down his friend's scarred skin as he clenched his fists. He tried with all his might to throw out his PAK legs and pry his authoritative attacker free from his aching ribcage, but the other scaly hand clamped firmly over his hardware kept them painfully in place. He struggled and thrashed, fighting back the instinct to go limp and freezing completely when Ipi's slick, calculating words finally crashed into him like a freightrain to derail any notion he had of Red in the past.
Tallest?
Red wanted to become…Tallest?
No, no. He wanted to find the five thousand Irkens who were now tragically dead and gone at the disgusting, nauseating clutches of the woman they were desperately trying to shoot through the eyes, not become Tallest. Purple pushed the notion from his mind, swallowing it down like a massive pill and halfway choking on his own blistering uncertainty for his friends motives crawling beneath his skin. If Red wanted to become leader of Irk, that would mean…t-that would mean he would need to get Purple out of the way, right? He had told him on more than one occasion now that he would make a fantastic leader for their people, not that Purple wanted the status or the political clout, but the idea that his friend would undermine his entire existence to take what he felt was rightfully his through blood and salty sweat was unsettling to the core and shook Purple beyond his foundations. No, reel yourself back in right now! Red would never hurt you! Even if he was interested in the allure of fine fabrics, expensive meals and snacks from exotic, faraway places, and the authority to squash anyone he wanted beneath his boots, Purple couldn't believe that the stoic, crimson-eyed demon bristling before him and ready to maim would ever do anything but protect him.
Right?
"You would have been so great, Red. I injected your blood into my daughter and Del's sweet little advisor, Lire, as test subjects to observe how the body would react to such a thing. Fortunately for us, they didn't reject it. But, now I've received word that you've murdered Lire and raked through my poor daughter's flesh and it doesn't seem to be regenerating properly, hinting to me that your purity standards are so below where they should be that I'm not sure I want to play with you anymore." Ipi reached back into the waistband of her robes and pulled free an Irken p-44 plasma pistol, cocking the slide and aiming directly between his eyes as he took a shocked step back and panicked. "There's only room for the purest blood in my household; fleas belong with fleas, wouldn't you say? Goodbye, Styx."
Purple screamed under the leather of his captor's hand tightening around his jawline, scrambling to ruthlessly claw and thrash as his pulse thumped dangerously through his veins and his PAK threw him into slow motion. He could see it all, eyes widening as Red threw out his long, mechanical extensions and rushed forward on agile feet, rearing back with a thick, powerful punch and a screech of harrowing, mind-numbingly feral determination sparking in his molten stare as he barely dodged a stream of white-hot plasma grazing his cheek and singeing his flesh on contact. Instinct. Fight or flight? F-Fight or flight?!
Fight.
Purple raked the heel of his dress boot down the shin of the guard pinning him like a butterfly, listening to him cry out when his scaled skin was torn free from his flesh, easing up just enough for him to spin in his hold and land a hit of his own when he heard Red make terrifying contact with Ipi's decrepit, crackling bones behind him, smashing through her ribcage with the sheer blunt force of his blow and pinning her to the ground as the whole of the scientific team took up scalpels and long, hideous needles to combat the alarmingly sudden peril their esteemed leader was thrown into. Purple bellowed something out in an adrenaline fueled rage, slurring Irken and Callnowian alike in a jumbled mash of risqué, warlike insults as he pummeled the guard back into the wall and surprised himself at his own strength for once, finding his Elite prowess as he grabbed him roughly by the collar and bit down hard on the hand coming to smack him upside the cheek. It reminded him of Lire and every unwanted, humiliating little smack between the antennae or across the cheek in public settings when he was allowed to leave his room, dominating him and keeping him in line like a disgusting, disturbingly obedient pet willing and able to serve in more ways than one no matter how much he bawled his eyes out the next morning. His vision snapped, narrowing to something focused and sharp as he continued to pursue the terrified Callnowian now ruthlessly backed into a desolate corner and throwing his hands up in front of his face to halfway defend himself as Purple threw out his own mechanical legs and administered the final, aggressively dooming stab to the abdomen that was needed to completely pop and destroy whatever organs hadn't been gruesomely bruised to nothing by his revoltingly pungent assault. He let the guard sputter and kick a few moments longer as the spark of precious life flooded away to the atmosphere through his wide, dismayed eyes, pulling back to reality when he hit the beautifully polished floor with a deadweight thud and spinning when Red cried out and hissed at the sensation of being stabbed perilously through the forearm with a piercing needle to the muscle and injected with something he didn't understand as he thrashed and fought against the weight of Ipi pinning him into the tile. He tried to fight it, throwing the medical drone off and cracking Ipi upside the skull before her maniacal antennae-like hair erratically swarmed over his body and shrouded him in an immobile cocoon of furiously alarmed lack of cognition when he lapsed and practically melted into her hold. Purple didn't know what to do, feeling every tendon in his body freeze over like ice and stiffen when Red lulled and struggled to keep himself awake against the sedatives pumping through his bloodstream and eating him alive from the inside out, burning up through his chest as he gasped and lolled to the side to meet Purple's petrified gaze for a final time before he went chillingly still.
Then…nothing.
No movement, no snarky backtalk, no cocky smile. Only a blank stare and a slack jaw as Ipi pulled back and took the needle with her, grinning when she shook her head at the appalling mess her target's suit had become, reaching down to place a gentle hand on the side of his face and rake against her skin with her devilishly long, manicured claws. No. No. No! They needed to get out of here! What was that?! What was in that syringe?! Purple began to panic, feeling his mind unravel as Ipi's creaky bones snapped in his direction, leaving his comatose friend against the floor as her staff of medical drones cowered in the far corner with blown wide eyes and panting breath to the uncertainty of the situation that was to come.
"R-Red?" Purple managed to squeak out, hoping his comrade would hear him and come out of whatever game he was probably playing. A game…yeah. Just a game! "R-Red, get up and quit messing around-"
"He won't hear you, love. That's pure Schloripps venom in its most concentrated form, used for sedation in small doses but used to liquify organs after an hour if injected into the muscle. I noticed that your companion already had a bite while you were running around on our security cameras, but the poor monster that administered it held back." Ipi tutted her tongue in aghast disappointment, brandishing what was left in the needle and allowing it to flash through the light. "Tick tock, my darling Nemi. He's got about an hour to live unless you cooperate. Wouldn't want to meet the same fate now, would you?"
Purple felt his mind slipping, unraveling like precarious threads in a nest before he took a step forward without thinking, staring up at Ipi's milky, dead eyes as she flicked the syringe with a finger for good measure and let the glass sing with a gentle tink. Cooperate? With what? Why did everyone seem to want him so badly? He was only supposed to marry Sen in the beginning but this…this was too much. This was too much…
"What do you want me to do?"
THREE MONTHS IN THE RECENT PAST; THE MASSIVE
Red straightened his ribbon bar with a smile, adjusting it precisely over his pocket and ensuring his crisp, deep ruby uniform was up to code before grabbing at his beret and flattening it down the way Del liked. His mission was already half over, and he still hadn't infiltrated Del's office to dig through his files for more information. This was getting to be dire and uncomfortable with Tak and the others sending him risky nightly transmissions asking for sensitive, dangerous information he still didn't have in his lack of focus. This was proving to be far more difficult than he expected, giving his uniform a final once over before flipping off the lights to his personal quarters and struggling with the lock pad on the hatch before slinging it open and stepping out into the pale light of the Massive's underbelly. Del had instructed him to remain below while Purple was up and about, not wanting him to know that they were secretly trailing him for protective purposes beyond what he had been briefed before, but that was also proving to be more and more difficult to achieve over time.
Red rounded a corner and nodded to two mechanics trudging by for their shift change, lost in thought as he made his way to the main elevator. Purple's scrawny little advisor was becoming dangerous and in the way, suspecting things he shouldn't have caught on to but somehow did regardless. At this point, Red was beginning to assume in the pit of his spooch that his much despised colleague was trailing him in return, always lying in wait a few steps behind him and questioning every bite of food he took when he would catch sight of him across the cafeteria. He had made it clear several times to stay away from his consort, something that was beginning to bother Red way more than it should have, but also setting the hook of aching suspicion deep in his mind and tugging him like a fish on a line towards something he was sure he was happening but had no definitive proof. Purple was kept under lock and key by both Del and Lire alike, only allowed to exit his quarters under a plain hood that hid his strikingly flawless appearance from the world and maintained an air of poised grace when he walked. He had never made eye contact with Red in any way, keeping his disjointed, blank gaze to his food or books whenever he had the rare opportunity to gaze upon him for a few milliseconds, hoping with every fiber of his being that the gorgeous vision of utter perfection would notice him and give him a soft smile before he turned the page. But that's not how this worked.
Red sighed to himself and reached out to scan his ungloved palm on the elevator pad, slipping his fingers back into the stuffy leather before the two tinted doors whooshed open and dinged out their compliance, allowing him to input his access code and security clearance to take the pod all the way to the peak of the gargantuan flagship. He held his breath and waited, stopping when the computer thought a long second and stalled to run over every strip of code he'd fed the system, finally flashing bright magenta in agreeance before gingerly shutting closed and taking him to his perilous, illegal destination; Del's private quarters.
Over the past three months, Red had wiggled his way into his Tallest's personal cabinet, sweet talking advisors and officers alike and bringing his sickening excuse for a leader midnight donuts when he was stuck on the bridge longer than he expected. The yellow-eyed menace was apprehensive at first and only chose Red to watch his prize due to his reputation as a false General on the battlefield, believing every line and syllable of the surprisingly believable report Skoodge had eloquently put together in the safety of their ship. It wasn't long, however, before the two had engaged in a budding friendship, allowing Red to climb the ranks and be promoted to Del's right hand strategic analyst. His Tallest asked him advice on almost everything from clothing choices for speeches, to rebel factions getting in the way of their advancements, to what Purple should learn next about Callnowia in his strict curriculum. Of course, Red had always met him with a carefully cultivated smile and arms wide like a gentle prophet, nodding along with his terrible ideas and scheming dockets that denied his home planet necessary food provisions in favor of keeping them all to himself. Red would be lying if he hadn't thought about taking a thin strip of wire and strangling Del in his sleep, if he hadn't fantasized very seriously about stabbing him critically through the chest with his boot knife during his monthly public transmissions to Irk before bathing in his gooey, neon blood for everyone to watch and laugh at. He glanced up and ticked by the floors as the pod continued it's sluggish ascent with a faint, jovial ding, watching as the science wing flooded past followed by the deck of engineers working tirelessly to keep the ship's behemoth of a plasma core stable.
That was plan B.
If anyone caught on, Del would die. There was no doubt in Red's audaciously indomitable mind about it.
Red blinked, rocketing out of his homicidal intentions when the pod slowed to a stop and instantly thrusted him into a panicked sweat when he realized what level he'd landed on. He felt his spine go rigid when the pad was tampered with outside and the doors fazed open to reveal a nauseatingly familiar, worn face tipped with two crooked antennae and a mess of battle scars dotting two calloused hands, staring forward in racing fear when the telltale click of wedged boots joined him in the deafening silence of the chute. Irk, why did it have to be him?!
Lire punched in his own code and glanced up to the floor that Red had selected for himself, his weary brow cocking and furrowing in confusion before he leaned back against the railing and looked his colleague over from the tips of his polished toes to his woolen beret with inquisitive bewilderment.
Don't say anything, don't say anything, please for the love of all that is morally just don't say anything!
"General Styx? What a pleasure to see you up and around so early."
Shit.
Red swallowed his own fear and flashed Lire a cheesy smile from above, nodding and taking a deep, calming breath when he noticed his two lopsided antennae twitch in mounting interest. "Ah, eh, good morning, councilman!" He began, wanting to disappear when his voice cracked on the finish. "I figured I'd start my duties early today since those crazy rebels on Callnowia are at it again."
Lire nodded slowly along with his words, suspiciously eyeing the illuminated floor once more and clicking his slimy tongue in his cheek. "Yes, I suppose they are."
The silence that followed was unbearable, setting Red on fire under his thick jacket and gloves and forcing him to shift with incredibly blatant nervousness as he avoided all attempts Lire took to hold his eye contact. Out of the four hundred thousand Irkens working on the Massive, he had to get stuck in the chute with Lire?! Did the universe actually hate him, or was it determined to test his resilience?
"Pardon me, General, but I noticed you're going to Tallest Del's personal quarters on floor 710. Was that a mistake or…intentional?" Lire asked casually, bringing his own claws together to brush at the silken front of his long robes. "Do you know that is technically illegal without permission from our Tallest?"
Red thought fast, the stink of distrustful intent stabbing at his rationality like a blowtorch and melting him under the surprisingly sweltering, beady stare of Lire's formidable gaze. Did he know Red was on his way to hunt through Del's personal transmissions or was he simply curious about whatever else was going on in between their social lives? Was he on the trail of Lavender Fire? Speak! Play it safe!
Red swallowed once more when he felt a lump form in the back of his throat, clearing it away with a swift cough and finally looking down to stare back into the lime gaze of the one man he hated more than anyone. He decided to follow up his question with a question of his own. "I'm going to deliver some top secret information to Del's personal letterbox regarding the Callnowian rebel movements in the eastern faction of the planet." He straightened himself back up, attempting to appear taller than he already was. "Anyway, I noticed that you don't have consort Purple with you today. Where is he?"
No answer.
"Councilman, it's my responsibility to keep him safe and protected from now until his transport to the capitol of Bornau for his transfer-"
"Shut up."
Red let his sentence fall flat over his tongue when Lire moved forward and stalled the chute in between floors, pulling away from the button and swiftly turning to back Red into a corner and throw a hot, guarded finger up into his face with an angry snarl. "You and your probing questions about Nemi always get under my skin. You're so interested in him to the point that it makes me wonder if you two are involved in something more!" He spat, not letting his target get a word in before inching closer and baring his sharp teeth. "He isn't yours to cultivate and grow, General! He's my project and my property until Del tells me to get rid of him so do your job and stay out of the business of me and the rest of my council or I might just slip a bit of misinformation to our Tallest about your perceived affections."
"My perceived affections?" Red defended harshly, pushing off of the corner and towering over the intrusive insect. "You want to stand here, sir, and talk to me about what I can and can't do to keep my mission safe? I have height seniority over you by at least a foot and I'm not afraid to use my status to squash you under my boot like the cockroach I know you are. The rest of this ship may think you're a saint but I hear what you do to him at night. I smell the pheromones everyone else is too afraid to mention and if you think I'm too much of a sniveling coward to report you to the Control Brains, you better think again!"
Lire went to shout out a heated, blistering retort before shrinking back and staring down at his toes for a long, languid moment before finding the words he needed. When he spoke once more his voice was precariously level and calculated, sending an irate shiver down Red's spine with every letter. "I don't care what you think you know about Nemi and I. Everything I do, I do because he wants it. Anyone with two eyes and working ocular implants could see that he's practically begging me for it."
No.
Red couldn't contain himself, rearing back with a furious yell and clocking the shady, disturbing man in the cheek and heaving as he hit the ground and moved a shocked, pained hand to his now gory mouth, the pain quickly catching up with him as he spat to the side and groaned. He scrambled back in a frightened panic when Red pursued him, grabbing him by the hood of his robes and forcing him to stand before clouting him again and tossing him hard to the floor in a tiny trickle of his own spit laden blood. Lire groaned and wiped at his mouth with the sleeve of his uniform, glancing blearily up from below with enough hatred to blot out Irk's bright burning star, singing holes through Red's uniform as he attempted to catch his breath against the violent sting in his knuckles rubbed raw by the rough interior of his gloves upon contact.
"Y-You…You're not the only one who loves him." Lire wheezed, reaching for the guardrail when the elevator landed on the cafeteria floor and fazed open, waiting for him to leave. "I-I won't forget this."
Red gave the battered, pathetic excuse for an advisor a final sneer and watched as he limped his way out into the corridor, doing his best to hide the steady bleed between his teeth before rushing off like the coward he was deep down. When the doors closed and the pod shot off once more, Red balled his fists and slammed them into the side panel with a bellowing cry of frustrated distain, wanting nothing more than to sever Lire's hideous head from his shoulders and rocket him out into the vacuum of space to choke on the lack of atmosphere as his organs imploded in on themselves. He wanted to split him in half, to throw him in a moist, rank dungeon to starve as he peeled Purple's weary body from the bed that had become his home and carried him on to safety somewhere where he would finally be completely free. He needed to see that pearly smile light up, those salty tears dry on his cheeks, and that gorgeous mind flourish once more once he was able to rid himself of the mind-bending torture taking him by the night. Red hated himself for not being able to do anything, knowing that if he killed Lire like he so desired, Purple would be blamed and murdered in return and strung up as an example to anyone else that Del could possibly choose in the future. He needed to stay quiet, to stay hidden, and to hope with all his might that Purple wouldn't fall victim to the terror sweeping his delicate thoughts as he took his own life.
Hopefully this would be over soon.
THE PRESENT; IPI'S MANSION; CALLNOWIA
"Don't worry, this will all be over soon, my love!" Ipi giggled, tapping at her syringe once more in an attempt to intimidate Purple beyond belief and take him for her own. "What I want from you is your undying loyalty to my Empire. I won't kill you, oh no. You're far too special to me in ways you cannot begin to fathom."
Purple didn't know what to do, looking from the Schloripps comatose body of his friend going into stiff muscle failure against the tile to the blinded, ancient smile curling deviously up to show off two rows of flat, unnerving teeth bending to crane down from above. Think! If he didn't go with Ipi, she would let Red die. But if he did go with her, she still would, wouldn't she? Shit, what else was there to do?! There was always a third option, but Purple couldn't latch on to the harrowing terror rebounding in waves over his skull and crashing down to put pressure on his very morality and soul as his wild gaze continuously flickered back to the man that had saved him over and over again. He was the last of a dying breed, a virtual virtuoso of chaotic anger and passion for his cause…beautiful.
Even now…even in the midst of the peril, Purple couldn't help his wandering mind from singing out the word like a song in his mind.
Red was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
"W-What do you mean I'm special? Tell me what you want." He swallowed his shame and sighed, doing his best to keep himself together for Red's sake and flinching his tears away when he noticed his hands twitch and spasm. If only he had the capability to reverse engineer the Schlorrips' venom with heat, performing many similar operations in his youth as a scientist, but there was no way he could….wait.
Flicky.
Purple felt his breath stall in the back of his throat when he remembered Flicky and her strange attachment to his hip, following closely behind him wherever he went and waiting for his next instruction like an old friend. If he could find her, he could milk a bit of her venom and help Red's PAK to clean his bloodstream of the toxins slowly killing off his cellular function as they waited. How? She could be thousands of miles away at this point hunting the vibration of prey under the soil and darting about on her eight jiggly legs as she romped through the snow. Maybe…maybe she had waited for them? Maybe she loved them both to such an extent that she hung close under the ground to escape the daylight?
It was the only shot they had.
Purple stomped lightly on the tile, trying to remain inconspicuous and play it off as a miniature temper tantrum to Ipi's words as the vibration echoed down against the concrete and shot down through the ground. If she was close, she would hear.
Please.
Please come.
"You want to know what I need you for? Well, I own you, so I suppose I can tell you." Ipi moved lightly across the room, feeling her way over Red's contorted form and gently lowering herself down on a medical stool to cross her legs and straighten her opulent headpiece. "You come from the Veloria Smeetery on Irk, the most prestigious and pure station on your planet. Your blood, my dear Purple, is of the highest quality and the enzymes racing through you as we speak, when combined with my people's, produces the proverbial fountain of youth. You have the ability to make us all immortal."
Purple stomped again, scrunching up his face and pretending to pout before venturing another heavy pound. "You wanna take my blood just to make yourself immortal? What about me?!" He complained through his terror, hoping it was convincing.
Ipi chuckled, seemingly picking up his fabricated anger and drinking it in to her amusement. "I love you darling, but please be reasonable. You, over time, have provided my husband and I with enough blood to give us eternal life already and I must say, Del and I have never felt younger. Our skin is as strong as steel, our minds are as sharp as a Vortian's, and our physical ability has increased tenfold after you appeared on the scene. We were hoping that our unfortunate Red here would be the one we were looking for, but his blood was muddied by that sub-par Smeetery in the countryside, leaving him with a mix of undesirable recessive traits that we had no use for. We tried his mixture on my daughter and Del's pathetic little advisor, but it seems that they're both falling apart at the seams. But you…you're perfect. There hasn't been another purple-eyed Irken born to your Smeetery for over seven hundred long cycles, forcing us to wait and make do until we sniffed you out from afar and fell madly in love. Do you understand?"
This was too much to take in all at once, Purple's entire world coming crashing down around him when he finally understood the true reason for the infamous Flesh Treaty, stomping again as he held back his blinding, misty tears and choked on his own mounting hopelessness. He was farmed like an animal, used for his blood to solidify a marriage that was destined to never die, and promote the expansion of two corrupt leaders that never wanted to fall away from power. Ipi and Del would take the universe by storm, raking over planets and destroying entire regimes as they cackled and planted their joint flags on soil that was never theirs for the taking all because his precious lifeforce allowed them to never falter or feel pain. Why? Why did he exist? Why was he perfect? He didn't ask for this life, didn't ask to be sought after by every officer that watched him from afar and licked their lips with every glimpse of his freckled cheeks, never asked to be raped, never asked to watch his new friends die and be torn to thousands of gory pieces, and never asked to lose the one man he never realized had been there for him the entire time. Red had been there…he had been there to protect him to the best of his ability before he was forced to endure Del's agonizingly ruthless voice and Lire's sneers from the shadows as he watched longingly on and held his witty, risqué tongue to preserve what Purple had never appreciated until now.
Life.
He had asked for a white knight, someone to sweep him off his feet and take him far away from this existence. He was positive in the back of his racing, lilting cognition as he pounded down once more that flawless kindness and storybook romance was what he wanted more than anything. But the Universe didn't give him that, did it? It gave him a crimson cadet with massive anger issues and the inability to gauge social situation correctly before opening his irritating mouth. It gave him a man broken by time and shattered by everything that had hammered him to dust by siphoning away his blood and replacing it with an undying need for justice that couldn't be tamed, flickering back in his retinas from the moment Purple had caught sight of his sweltering eye color in the snow to the present as he stared blankly forward at nothing. Even if Purple hated him in the beginning and pushed him away with every chance he got, he had come to realize something in their travels and dangers together;
They were all they had.
He had no one else, and neither did Red. They were stuck together and bound by the toils of the star system to overtake every opposition threatening to eat them like sugar and spit them back out into the cosmos as exiles, two displaced souls searching for something more and swirling together to bloom into a blossom of death defying pigment and exquisite fortitude to survive. One soft spoken and unsure of himself, the other loud and terrifyingly resilient. Purple stomped a final time, weakly giving up his front and struggling to remain upright when his adrenaline began to wear thin to be replaced with nothing but bitter hollowness and excruciating failure. Flicky was gone and his resolve to fight had fallen away to the encroaching darkness snapping and snarling at his heels and ready to take him down to the destined pain and agony he had tried so hard to outrun. The worst part…his friend was going to die alone and cold with no resolution to his story. He would never see the light, never smile over his shoulder at Purple's ridiculous jokes…n-never…never hold him close in a warm, soothing embrace when this was all over.
This was it, huh?
Purple felt his limp antennae droop down over his skull and opened his mouth to speak his desolate, sickening admittance to Ipi's overpowering desires, ready to give up before he felt something faint below. It started as a tap, a scratching barely there and unnoticeable to even the most trained senses but clear as day to his heightened Elite training.
Scratch.
Scritch.
Scratch.
There it was again. He had definitely felt something. Purple swallowed, locking eyes with Ipi before slamming down hard on the ground and bracing for impact when the ground cracked without warning and split in a mess of dusty tile and fragments of steel flying outwards with booming velocity, followed by the confused warbling and chittering of the gargantuan behemoth barreling her way through the floor to catch what she thought was a tasty meal of sugar worms writhing in a ball through the mud. Flicky stumbled and shuddered herself free, earning a few terrified screeches from the medical staff as they scrambled for the door and out into the hallway, tackling Ipi to the ground in the process and dragging her away before she could scream out her overpoweringly agitated protest. Her manicured claws latched onto the doorframe in the pandemonium, her sensitive palm and fluttering hair scenting the air as Purple coughed in the aftermath and searched about in the chaos as he stumbled, diving for Red and heaving against the deadweight ragdolling in his arms and liquefying, happy when Flicky finally gained her perplexed bearings with a sharp screech and grabbed for Purple's PAK with her clicking mandibles to hoist him up against his will and drag the two along like her offspring.
"No! Grab them! Don't let them get away you idiots!" Ipi screamed as her team panicked to the horrific hisses and blinding venom shot back in their wake from Flicky's shuddering proboscis, searing their scaly skin and burning through their protective armor as they panicked in a frantic frenzy to peel it off before it acid molded to their sensitive bodies. "We can't lose him again! I need him to create our army!"
Army?!
Purple went to cry back, yelping when Flicky tore back off down the hole and raced her way through the surprisingly extensive network of tunnels she had dug in their absence, cool soil beating back in Purple's face as her body secreted sticky fluids to keep their journey fast and slick. He held on tight to Red, laboring to keep him against his chest in a tight embrace as they dipped and ascended at blinding speeds into the darkness, leaving behind the screaming voices barking orders in the now incredibly far distance. Red was cold, freezing actually, and had been reduced to a mess of chilly shivers as he began to sweat under his uniform, the emergency glow from his PAK the only source of horrifying light in the root infested corridors their winged friend had managed to cave out, her panting breath shuddering against the back of Purple's neck and keeping him somewhat warm as he began to formulate some kind of plan. He had to get both Red and Flicky somewhere safe and concealed so he could heat her venom, remove the impurities, and inject it into Red's PAK systems to bring him back online as he went into a state of sickened hibernation in his clutches. There had to be a town around here somewhere. A rural outpost? Something!
"Flicky! Listen to me very carefully!" He spoke quickly, glancing up and squinting as five long eye stalks craned down and glittered in the pale, insipidly blinking light of his friend's hardware before she stopped completely to listen. "I know you can understand me, I-I hope, and I really need your help! Red is sick, really sick, and I know you know this landscape better than anyone! Is there a place around here we can use for shelter without being spotted? I need to use your venom to reverse engineer the effects racing through his system and we only have…I-I dunno anymore! Um, forty five minutes, I think!"
Flicky stood stagnant for along moment, stretching her gooey stalks down to get a good look at the now completely unconscious body of the Irken she had pierced for chocolate on accident only a night before, flicking her long antennae forward and raking them like ropes over his face. Her gelatinous flank quivered dangerously in response to the disgusting stink of her own species' poison lacing his saliva and secreting through his clammy skin, quickly processing Purple's words into a language she could understand before shooting straight and pounding her legs throughout the tunnel to measure her direction, picking up on the fine ebb and flow of the planet's electromagnetic field before turning and smoothing her mandibles against her underbelly. Purple felt himself press against her sticky, viscous fuzz and cried out when they lurched dangerously and picked up speed once more, a new tunnel quickly shoveling forward as his protective friend used her clawed feelers and spiked feet to shovel impressive buckets of mud and roots to the side and guide them on towards their hopeful salvation.
Ten minutes, and Red had only deteriorated further. He was gaunt and dry, his body completely dehydrated as Flicky finally funneled her way to the surface and broke into the late afternoon light only to hiss at the intrusive rays of radiation blinding her sensitive retinas and forcing her back down into her comforting shadows. She unlatched her cargo and chucked them up into the snow as Purple flailed and lost his hold on Red, landing hard on his side with a groan and digging his nails into the frigid ice beneath his hands. He pushed up and coughed, spitting a mixture of Schloripps goo and clay filled soil to the side as he wiped his mouth, blinking in surprised shock when he noticed an old, outdated sign in the distance signaling the presence of a run down building he'd neglected to notice in his earlier flyovers with Lire. He squinted against the glare of the star reflecting back off the pillowy embankments and scrambled his way to where Red had landed, patting him lightly on the face and finally making out a tiny fraction of what the Callnowian dialect read. Hostel. What was that? He quickly searched his PAK for any information, landing on something intriguing and pulling it up in his ocular lenses to read over the tidbits of factoids he was able to dig free, gasping in excitement when he realized it was a communal resting site for passers through.
"Flicky, you're a genius! You genius!" Purple cried out, bounding back through the cold and leaning over the hole to beam down at the shuddering mess of goop and plant material staring up from below and keeping to the gloom. "You can read too?! Damn, I'm so happy we met you! Now, there's one more thing I need you to do for me before you hang close and wait for night to fall. I need you to…let's see…" He dug through his PAK, plucking free a used candy bar wrapper and molding the tin to cup gingerly in this hand. "I need you to spit in this. It's gross, I know, but I need a less concentrated form of your venom to inject into my friend's equipment like a vaccine. Can you do that for me?"
Flicky took a minute to process his words but eventually chirped in aggrievance, shooting her snaking proboscis forward and letting loose a thick torrent of hot, sticky saliva over Purple's form and coating him down to his toes as he held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut in shock to the repulsive feeling of regurgitated Schloripps acid oozing down his spine and soaking through every inch of his once pristine clothing. When she finished with an excited, ecstatic peep, he pulled away and wiped his eyelids of the blinding mess with a sputtering cough, trying to remain thankful when he noticed she had filled the tin regardless, flashing her a cheesy smile.
"Thanks…I guess. Now hang out here until I come and get you, alright? I'm going to try and get Red some help. Do you understand?" He waited until Flicky responded before crossing back to where his rapidly deteriorating comrade lay against the frigid ground, reaching for his wrist and heaving him on with all his might as she retreated back into her tunnel network. "Let's hope this works."
It didn't take long for Purple to reach the sign and eventually the stoop of the hostel, groaning and sighing dangerously under the razed weight of his friend threatening every inch he crept along to drag him down and nullify his tooth-gritting efforts to not spill what his friend had gifted him. Finally, he made his way to the rusted steel of the hatch, slogging it open and poking inside to ensure no one was watching before quickly tugging Red along past the clear front desk and towards the first room he was able to spot. It wasn't impressive in the slightest; a single yellowed mattress that had undoubtedly seen better days and a meager nightstand in the far corner. A tiny wood burning stove was set ablaze and crackling against the nearest wall, soot and ash spewing against the grimy floor and forcing Purple to curl his lip in disgust. At least they would be warm and at least he had a viable heat source. He poked further into the room, noticing that there was an offshoot, most likely a bromine shower and a tiny kitchenette. Jackpot!
"Ti sep! (Hello!)"
Purple spun around with a cry of panic when the sound of rural Callnowian flooded his senses, letting go of his friend's wrist and slamming him behind the door to hide what looked like the scene of a murder as the owner of the hostel moved forward with a warm, genial smile and extended a hand in greeting, shrinking back in repulsed disgust when he realized Purple had been through the ringer and was caked head to toe in dust and saliva.
"Ah! Ti sep, mu sal! (Ah! Hello, my friend!)" Purple sang back in disjointed fluidity, unsure of how to tell the hunched man and five kind eyes that he was going to be staying the night and running through everything he could be remember. "Yel haca…eh…su ven? (I have…eh…this one?)" He pointed to the door and gave the owner a forced smile, trying with all his might not to let Flicky's precious spit dry up in his makeshift container as the man blinked and looked to the number on the door.
Eventually, he realized Purple wasn't going to be able to keep up with his voice, smiling in return and nodding kindheartedly before trudging his way back behind the main desk to dig out a surprisingly futuristic key card, handing it over and letting his beam turn to a fat, excited grin before tapping at a jar of tips perched on the desk with a single claw. Great. He didn't have anything. Purple thought long and hard, blinking when he overlooked something and holding up a forefinger to halt the man from following as he raced back to his new retreat for the night, quickly crossing to the nightstand to set aside the saliva before hastily stooping and plucking the ruby and amethyst tie tack from Red's lapel, tugging it free and bounding back to hold it up for inspection. The Callnowian's five jet black eyes widened to something bug-like with a shocked gasp, reaching out and snatching the precious stones in his grimy claws and holding it towards the light to admire the expensive faceting before blubbering something in stuttering, racing thanks as he teared up and clutched it close to his chest, tearing off towards the back room once more and shouting to a group of workers who in turn began to chatter feverishly amongst themselves. With that, Purple sighed and made his way back to his own temporary room, locking it with the keycard and tossing it over to the mattress before slumping down and breaking down in a round of stressed, overwhelmed tears. This was too much. All of this running, all of this peril…this wasn't what he thought warfare would be when he enlisted in the Elite.
He sniffed into his knees and pushed off the door to grab Red by the lapel, straddling him from above and heaving him on towards the mattress before his strength faltered and fell flat, falling forward and landing at his side to trace his face with his worried, escalating fears. He took his friend by the wrist, checking for his pulse and shooting up in panic when he realized his PAK had gone into mechanized regulation, forcing his spooch to beat even after it had shuddered and failed, alerting him to the lack of time they had. He rolled Red onto his stomach and popped the main casing of his beeping hardware, digging his shaky hands into the tangle of wires within and feeling his own blood pressure spike when his fingertips brushed exactly what he was looking for, tugging free a tiny vial of sedatives hooked to a neurological wire. He unscrewed the cap, dumping the sweet liquid to the floor and letting it hang free in the wind as he raced back to the kitchenette and fumbled through every drawer and cursed under his breath when all he found was a few wooden spoons, a grimy, unclean pan, and a few boxes of instant provisions. A spoon would have to do for now. Purple willed himself to focus, flipping on the plasma burner and scooping up a generous glob of Flicky's precious venom with the ancient looking spoon, holding it over the blazing fire and narrowing his eyes as he watched it bubble with the chemically enhancing coil of convection, bringing the disgusting impurities to the top as he carefully scraped them free with a second spoon to slosh the molten material to the sink. He waited, making sure it was completely pure before springing back to his friend's side and blowing the steam away, pouring the now decontaminated, filtered liquid into his sedative vial and recapping it to burry it deep in his PAK. He gripped at the lip of his hardware and grumbled something long and low to himself, manually helping the cord to pump the whole of the concoction into Red's bloodstream with a pinching massage and firmly securing the casing back over his delicate insides as he laid back down and waited.
Please.
Please, Red, please.
Purple held his breath, moving forward and placing an unstable palm against his friend's cheek, instantly pulling back with a sudden screech when he shot up and yelled at the top of his lungs. Red clawed at his face and fought a few moments, blinded by the last memories he'd held of Ipi's terrifying tendrils wrapping around his throat and choking him into submission as Purple flew forward and grabbed frantically for his wrists, pinning them down and sitting atop his chilly chest to force his dangerous claws away from his sensitive, scarred skin.
"Red! R-Red, it's me you idiot!" He struggled, yelping when his friend threw him off and forced him to spill over the edge of the grungy mattress to the unswept floor, groaning and coughing in the dust as his terrified friend came to terms with his surroundings once more and finally laid back down to squeeze at the throbbing headache eating through his skull.
"Fuck….what the hell? Where are we?" He moaned, forcing his eyes closed when the light was too much and weakly working off his sweat-slicked jacket for more comfort. "Why do I feel like I just got hit with a Voot?"
Purple moved back to the kitchenette and kicked his shoes off, tossing the spoon into the sink and quickly rinsing out the pan with warm, comforting bromine before filling it and coming back to sit next to his wholly exhausted friend as he sat up. He helped Red prop himself up with a few pillows and brought the pan to his mouth to silently demand he take a sip, satisfied when he gulped down a few desperate swigs of much needed hydration before letting his head roll back against the wall.
"Damn, that's so good! I would have never thought I'd want bromine more than I do now." He sighed when Purple went to take his own sip, chuckling when it escalated into a frenzied chug as his body begged for consumption. "Woah, slow down a bit before you literally drown yourself."
Purple shot him a look and thrust the pan into his hands, rolling his eyes and tugging off his own disgusting jacket to toss it to the corner. "Ha, ha, very funny. That's the first thing you have to say to me after you literally died? Your PAK was keeping you alive, Red. Ipi injected you with concentrated venom from a Schloripps, and I was able to find Flicky to get us out of the capitol. I'm not sure how far she took us, but the guy who runs this place seems pretty nice and let me have this room for the night." He sighed and turned his back to his friend when he felt his weary gaze sting at him, unbuttoning his shirt and allowing the balmy warmth of the surrounding atmosphere to kiss at his skin. "You'll be sore for a while, but I'm pretty sure you'll be alright."
"Died?! I-I was dead?!" Red cried, raking his hands down his face when he set himself into a panic, grabbing at every part of his body he could think of to ensure everything was still intact before heaving a great exhale of releif. "Holy shit, I don't think I've ever gone into mechanized hibernation before! I-I don't remember anything!"
"Good, because you were disgusting." Purple made an attempt to lighten the air with a tiny, well-placed tease, watching his friend sink down amidst the fuzzy blankets with a pout. "Can you get your shoes off?"
Red glanced down, wiggling his feet and trying to reach but giving up and kicking them free with great effort instead, watching them clatter to the floor and curling up to shiver into the mattress as Purple returned. "Ugh, I feel terrible. I haven't felt this bad since I got that terrible Worker's Sickness back in the Elite. My whole barracks was laid up for literal weeks with it, and we were all achy and drooly and all we could do was eat and rest."
"Oh! I'm so happy you said that because I found some dry ration packs in here when I was looking around for ways to fix your blood content!" Purple piped up, once again leaping back to the kitchenette with renewed excitement to grab for a mesh bag of free candy before chucking it back with an adrenaline-fueled giggle, letting it turn to laughter when Red neglected to catch it and let it slam into the far wall. "You dunce, can't you do anything right?"
Red didn't know what to say, ignoring the insult completely and toying with the notion that Purple had been inside his PAK with his own two hands and had brought him back online with his witty thinking and powerful scientific background. If he hadn't been here…well…
"You saved my life?" Red breathed, shifting over when his friend positioned himself a little close for comfort and reached over his lap to pluck the bag from where it had tumbled inbetween the blanket and the wall. "You saved my life?"
Purple felt his face flush at the disbelieving tone wafting through the ash tainted air, digging out a caramel candy bar and ripping it free from the package as he broke it in half and passed it on to Red. He didn't take it, staring back with a look of sheer, utter bewilderment smeared over his face that was beginning to dig under Purple's skin. "Yeah, of course I saved you. What, did you think I was going to leave you to die?" He stammered lightly, shoving his chocolate in his mouth to keep from having to respond.
He was alive. He was here. Red had lost it all; his ship, his mission, his family, and everything that held any monetary value to him in the explosion. He'd been shamed and slandered by his enemies, beaten to a pulp by a woman twice his size with enough strength to pile drive a tank, and rejected by the man he had fallen for so long ago in the middle of a sparkling cave while a Schloripps raced in the background. Tak, Skoodge, Zim. They were in pieces; slick, garbled messes of flesh and depleted dreams that he couldn't protect only solidified by the strange inability to protect himself in return. Purple had tugged him down from the chilly branches of the tree he'd perilously tumbled through and now he had injected him with a handmade antidote to keep his poor, shaky body from going into a state of comatose shock? Red was worthless, wasn't he? If he couldn't take care of himself, how could he ever expect to take care of Purple when he needed him most?
But that's just it…he did need him.
Purple had said it himself, crying out from where he'd been pinned under the ruthlessly formidable clutches of a Callnowian guard, tears streaking down his flawless cheeks as he let go a torrent of subconscious fears and heartbreaking pleas for him to get up and fight for them. He turned, watching as Purple avoided his stunned silence and munched away on his first bite of sugar in days. He was here…they were both here together.
Do it.
No, Red couldn't do it. Not here, not now. He'd wanted to for so long, he'd tried in the cave and already failed. If he leaned in, he'd get a punch in the stomach for sure. Potent butterflies ripped up through his spooch as he licked his chapped lips and set the candy bar to the side, scooting in a bit closer and careful with his advances as he gauged his friend's reactions.
Do it.
Purple finally turned with a frown, locking onto his telltale gaze and freezing as he glanced to the side in nervous uncertainty when Red took the provisions back gently from his hands and set it down between them, stabilizing himself against the pillow and reaching out to place a warm, knowing hand on his bare shoulder. He traced down to his collarbone, stopping to map out tiny constellations with his freckles, letting a tiny, apprehensive laugh reverberate between their escalating breathing and going blind to the rest of the world when Purple reached up and grabbed at his wrist to stop him. He pushed him back with a swallow but hung on, squeezing his eyes shut and opening up an internal conflict with himself when he allowed their fingers to tenderly entwine and come together as one.
Do it.
The feeling of Red so close yet so far, the pounding of his pulse beneath his fingertips, the scent of his now almost completely faded cologne clinging to his skin…all of it. All of it. He didn't know what he meant as the phrase played like a record in his thoughts, digging into his soul and drawing out every last shard of black hatred jabbed into his cognition by cycles upon cycles of abuse. He felt them fading but still so obviously there, reminders of scars unseen as he whimpered and ventured a bit of bravery he would have never foreseen, bringing his friend's now quaking fingertips to the side of his jawline and opening his mouth to speak but finding his voice completely stolen by the strangeness of their shared intimacy. Red didn't move, staying back as Purple burst into another round of tears and folded forward, smacking his hand away and instead going for a deep embrace that pinned him down into the bed as hot rivulets of wounded, pent up anxieties and trauma came flooding out over his undershirt to stain the once lavish silk. Red didn't know what to do, almost positive that he had been raring for a kiss and reeling when Purple clung to his sides for support and dug his aching claws into his ribcage as he sputtered and writhed in a drowning pool of bottomless emotional pain to the past he couldn't ever escape.
"It hurts! I-I'm so sorry, I wanted too but…but….Dammit! I know you want to kiss me, Red, but I can't! I-I'm to afraid of getting into something else I can't break a-away from and it terrifies me to cross that line with you!" He bawled into his neck, shuddering closer and choking on his own terror as Red wrapped his arms down snuggly around his waist for support. "Y-You should find someone else who will be able to g-give you what you want! I'm so messed up and afraid that I don't know if I can ever..n-no I already see you as something special. I see you as someone who I could…I dunno…have a future with? M-Maybe?! Fuck, I just don't know and I'm not even sure what I don't know anymore anyway and it's all so confusing inside my head! I-I just want it to stop!"
He wanted this too? Red scrambled to latch on to something eloquent to say, to find something in the deep recesses of his mind that would pacify the agony and siphon away the hurt from his…was he even allowed to call Purple his friend at this point? They had been dancing around each other for some time, exchanging tiny glances and pent up emotions that hinted at something more and squeezed both of them together into a waltz unlike anything Red had ever tangoed with. Purple was complicated, strange, and so unbelievably worthy of affection that it wasn't even funny, knowing that once he was able to heal from his terror that he could open up and finally realize that he could become the man he was destined to be. Maybe they could become that together.
"I…I can't take away what happened to you, Pur." He began tentatively, brushing a hot, unsure palm up over his quivering antennae as he clutched at his shirt. "But I can tell you this. I…I-I…I feel something for you. You're so passionate about everything you do, more handsome than anyone I've ever met, and you have a mind of your own that blows me away every time you decide to use it." He snickered a bit, smiling when Purple tried to chuckle through his horror but only slipped back into his own watery depression. "What I'm trying to say is, if you're not ready for this, then I will never, ever, make you do anything you don't want to do. I won't ever touch you, I won't ever kiss you, and I won't ever hit you again. You deserve so much more and…I'm ready to wait for you."
"Wait? Y-You'd wait for me?" Purple couldn't believe what he was hearing, staring up in a dumbfounded stupor and faltering when Red slipped down and tugged a blanket over them both to rest in the crook of his arm with a faint, sincere nod. "You would really…I mean…what?"
"What do you mean, what? I like you and that's all there is to it." Red couldn't believe he was saying this out loud, everything simmering and boiling within him for over six months finally coming to a head. "I don't know where this is going or where we'll end up but…um…I'd like to give it a shot."
"You mean you like me too?!" Purple blurted out without thinking, clamping a terrified hand over his mouth as Red blinked in surprise and instantly flew into a fit of untamed, raw laughter and the look of utter, appalled mistrust on his friend's face.
"Too? So you have thought about this a little bit, huh?"
"N-No! It's not like that! I just-"
"Come on, it's ok if you have feelings for me! Even if they're only budding flowers in that crazy mind of yours, I'm sure they'll bloom into something beautiful."
Purple gave a fake gag and rolled over to hide the ridiculous smile peaking through his teary cognition, letting his eyes flutter shut when Red ran a tentative hand the length of his arm and settled at his waist to draw them in close to share precious body heat. This felt right. This felt so…so right. His breathing was even and tame, his hands didn't linger or take, and his voice was compassionate and true. There was no stealing of places that should never be forced into the open, no angry words combined with the smash of bloodletting fists, and no early mornings getting sick over the sink at the thought of having to do it all over again.
Purple was safe.
Here, in the glorious present with a glorious person he never thought he'd meet, he was completely safe.
"So, what do you say?" Red breathed against his neck, drifting off a bit and hugging him tighter around the waist, tracing his ribcage with a gentle hand and sighing when Purple reached back to prod inquisitively at the side of his face. "Am I allowed to wait for you?"
Do it.
Purple didn't respond, spinning in Red's hold when something deep and achy overtook him, setting alight every instinct to run and snuffing them out in the same breath as he snuck his arms up around his shoulders and drew him in without thinking to gingerly capture his lips in a mind-numbing, ethereally cosmic display of healing and heavenly grace descending upon them both. He stared forward, watching as Red's eyes fluttered shut and melted into the contact he'd never anticipated in a thousand long, precious cycles, moving like butter against him for a few moments longer as Purple found himself without the need to rationalize for once. Compassion. Tranquility. Respect. Protection. Was this what it was supposed to feel like to have someone devote their life to you? Was his first true, inhibited kiss supposed to be so warm and tingly? Was his skull supposed to buzz with a lack of questions and an overabundance of something gorgeously radiant he couldn't pin down? Yes. Yes…this was it. This was everything.
In this moment there were no more pained tears.
In this moment there was no more sweltering agony.
As Red pulled away with a tiny giggle and brought their antennae together, pressing his forehead to his partner's as he purred and smeared another tiny, affectionate kiss to his cheek, Purple finally understood what peace was supposed to be. The trauma faded into the background as his partner laughed through his nerves and smiled back with a flushed, beloved look of unbridled adoration that had Purple wanting to burst into rapturous song to the unfettered beauty of his voice and the all-enshrouding security of his war torn hands smoothing exquisite circles into his back. He nuzzled back in, unsure of what to say when the words wouldn't come but knowing Red got the point when he rested his chin between his antennae and allowed him to linger against his skin and find serenity in a place so hideously destroyed by violence.
For now, there was just pure, untainted, unsolid peace.
There was just peace.
AWESOME! OUR BOYS HAVE FINALLY CONNECTED AFTER 15 CHAPTERS OF FLIRTING AND DANCING AROUND EACH OTHER! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I love you all! See you soon!
Next Update: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 10:00 PM CDT (UTC -5)! See you then!
